FŪDO 075 · 1979 · Early Jeju · poem

The Departing Boat

떠나가는 배

Basic information

Identifier	FŪDO 075
Title	The Departing Boat떠나가는 배
Date	1979

Short commentary

Painting may not be holding something fast, but quietly allowing what will disappear to depart.

Artwork text · poem

Text by Byun Joung Hoon

The sea lies far off,
pale in the color of dried grass.
Above the horizon, a small boat
departs, bathed in the fading light.
The line draws a house, then slips into the empty air;
it follows the grass, then is released into the sea.
It is a line that does not confine form.
Just as it does not hold back the departing boat,
the line, too, does not hold things in place.
To draw is not to keep something held,
but quietly to let go
of what will disappear.

To let it go
and still watch to the end.
That, too, is part of drawing.